This invention relates to apparatus for dispensing both ice and chilled beverages, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an improved chilled beverage dispenser which has large ice storage capacity and which incorporates an improved system of dispensing ice.
Available space is a valuable commodity in small convenience stores, cafeterias, concession stands, fast food service lines and the like. The relevant industry sets certain size and dimensional requirements based on practical limitations of service counter size and the ease of everyday operation and routine maintenance. The industry is constantly looking for improved apparatus which take up less counter space while delivering the same or increased levels of efficiency. Small, compact machines, facilitating the delivery of food service and suitable for service counters of set and limited dimensions, are constantly in demand. One such demand has been for a combination ice and beverage dispenser. Ice in chilled beverages has become a necessary part of modern-day food service, and a combined ice and chilled beverage dispenser, logically, increases efficiency in food service delivery by eliminating the need for two separate machines and by making more counter space available.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,641,763, issued to Landers et al., discloses one such effort in which an ice storage bin can provide ice for beverages, at the same time providing a cooling source for a cold plate which, in turn, chills beverage lines. This disclosure is typical of the state of art prior to the present invention. The apparatus disclosed by Landers is limited in the capacity of stored ice (practically about 90 lbs.) because the bottom level of ice in the storage bin has to be above the height level of the discharge chute for the force of gravity to allow discharge of ice into cups waiting below. Thus, the free space from the lowest portion of the machine to the height level of the bottom layer of ice is wasted and unusable for ice storage.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,715, issued to Hovinga, discloses a rotary paddle wheel which is used in a combination ice cube and cold beverage dispenser to elevate ice from lower regions of a storage cabinet up to a dispensing chute. Ice is elevated to roughly the same level as that of the dispensing chute, and the entire storage cabinet, along with all of its internal components, is designed at a tilted angle to allow gravity-assisted dispensing. Because of this sloped design, the paddle wheel is limited to a relatively small size. The size of the wheel is further restricted by a separate enclosure that is a part of the wall of the ice cabinet which is required for the wheel to be able to carry ice within the enclosure's confinement.
The entire design restricts the amount of ice that can be stored within the cabinet which is limited by the height and width demands of the food service industry. The volume of ice in the cabinet is further restricted by addition of a curved false bottom which is designed to create a separate compartment for ice to cool a cold plate. Furthermore, the small size to which the paddle wheel is confined results in inefficient ice delivery as it is restricted to the small amounts of ice that reach it through the tilt angle and narrow channels formed in the opening to its separate enclosure.
A trade publication distributed by SerVend International, Inc., Form No. 2170, copyright 1988, discloses an ice dispenser that also utilizes a paddle wheel. Like the Hovinga patent, the internal ice bin and the paddle wheel system design disclosed in the SerVend brochure is tilted at an angle with wasted dead space below the slanted bottom of the ice storage bin. The SerVend ice dispenser could be combined with a beverage dispenser; however, this would create problems very similar to the restricted volumes found in the storage cabinet of the Hovinga patent.
Another drawback of the SerVend paddle wheel is the delivery of ice up to the apex of the paddle wheel for discharge down a dispensing chute. If this method of dispensing ice is to be incorporated with a beverage dispenser, the industry would demand that the length of drop from the apex of the paddle wheel to beverage containers waiting below be enclosed within a relatively long discharge chute. This will result in wasted ice as conventional beverage holders cannot hold the volume of ice discharged by this excessively long discharge chute.
The present invention discloses an apparatus which allows for almost double the capacity of ice storage (around 160 lbs.), as compared to machines presently available, by incorporating a novel rotating tray which lifts ice stored below the height of the discharge chute to an elevation above said chute and then into a secondary cone chute for gravity-assisted dispensing. This design allows the rotating tray to reach throughout the entire height of the ice storage bin with utilization of the entire volume of the bin while still dispensing proper volumes of ice at appropriate height levels.
It is an object of the present invention to provide enlarged ice storage bins for combination chilled beverage and ice dispensers. To this end, the system disclosed herein incorporates a rotating tray means which allows for storage of ice below the height level of the discharge chute, permitting the use of the free space below the level of the discharge chute which would otherwise be wasted.
It is an object of this invention to provide a combination beverage and ice dispenser which efficiently discharges ice in quantities corresponding to volumes of conventional beverage holders through the use of a cone chute located at an intermediate height along the dispenser. The rotating tray means of the present invention has the ability to reach the lowest portions of its storage bin, utilizing all available storage space in the bin, and can discharge ice at an elevation that meets the demands of the industry without waste caused by excessive discharge.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a rotating tray means, a plurality of breaker bars, and a plurality of agitators, all mounted on a single, motor-driven shaft such that all separate components mounted on the shaft rotate in unison when the motor is activated. Rotation of the shaft and agitators can also be timed for set periods at set time intervals through printed circuit board means to prevent bridging of ice stored for long durations.
Another object is to provide an ice-dispensing apparatus whose internal components are strippable without tools for cleaning and maintenance, which allows for improved sanitation control.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide insulation for chilled beverage lines beyond an ice-cooled cold plate through additional insulation with foamed-in-place insulation of product lines beyond the cold plate.
Other objects and improvements will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the following disclosure.